Fireworks
by ramenrulz8P
Summary: This a modern AU where Noctis and Lightning meet at a party. "He could sense her jolt when she noticed his presence. 3 Noctis could feel her face him. 2 He turned away from the window and in her direction. 1"
1. Fireworks

Another firework exploded in the sky.

Ignis winced from the front seat of the convertible. "Couldn't they wait a few hours until it was actually New Years to start busting out the fireworks?" he complained, turning another corner before turning a corner.

Gladiolus rolled his eyes before responding, "Why do you have to be such a spoil sport?" He glanced over at Noctis who was staring at the fireworks intently. "At least Noct is enjoying himself for once."

The air in around the convertible grew thick and icy.

Everyone knew the past year had been horrible for Noctis.

His whole life had been a mess since the day he started dating Luna, the younger sister of Stella Nox Fleuret. Though even he didn't like to admit it, he was with the younger Fleuret just to get to the older one. Stella had been the one he'd had his sights set on since he was a little boy. But in the past year, much to his dismay, Luna found out and told Stella everything. Both sisters moved back to their home country and had promised him if he ever got near either of them again, he'd lose his head.

Then there was his father who was so busy with his underground dealings he hadn't spoken to his own son in over a year. Not to mention the work load had just grown for the young entrepreneur and he hardly got time to have fun, like tonight.

"Of course! Now that we're all together we can have some real fun!" Prompto exclaimed from the front seat turning around to get a good look at Noctis, who now wore a ghost of a smile.

After pulling into hotel's entrance, Ingis handed the car to the valet while the other three got out and straightened out their suits. All four headed inside the empty lobby which was still lit up in Christmas décor.

Thankfully the lobby and the rest of the venue had been rented out by the host of this event. Some rich business men named Katzroy and Estheim had booked the whole place out for a friend's wedding reception. Apparently Prompto had been invited to the reception and brought the others along as his plus three.

As soon as they stepped in, Prompto let out a low whistle. Clearly no expense had been spared. The whole place was decked out in gold, from the chandeliers to the table decorations. Even most of the guests had some sort of gold accent on their outfits. Which led the others to look at Prompto who was the only one out of the four that had gold accents on the collar of his white tux.

"Was there a certain dress code you didn't tell us about?" Ignis leaned over and whispered to Prompto who dug in his pocket.

"Do you really think I'd forget such an important detail?" he muttered as he produced items from his pocket. "Ah ha!" He opened his hands and showed the other three what he dug out; a gold watch, a gold broach, and a mask that covered half the wearer's face.

"For the rest of tonight, we don't know one another," Gladiolus said as he took the watch. The man headed out into the crowd to mingle with the ladies without a second glance at his friends.

Prompto pinned the broach on Ignis before he even had a chance to choose between the remaining two items. "You can thank me later," he whispered to Noctis, slipping the mask into his coat pocket before dragging Ignis to the bar.

Noctis who was suddenly alone, put on the mask and decided to find a comfortable place to spend the rest of this year. Grabbing a glass of champagne, he headed up the stairs to find an empty hallway decorated with pictures of a very muscular blonde haired man and a very tiny pink hair woman, who Noctis assumed were the bride and groom. Walking further down the hallway he found a small sitting area where he decided he'd spend the rest of the night.

Noctis couldn't recall how long he'd stood there before he could hear the voice of the announcer in the main square a few blocks away begin to count down.

10

The sound of heels clacking on the marble floors made Noctis tense up.

9

They sounded as if they were getting closer.

8

Soon he could make out the sounds of the ruffling of a dress

7

He became very much aware that there was someone standing next to him.

6

His peripherals caught pink hair. On no… the bride? But this lady was much too tall.

5

An exhausted sigh escaped her lips.

4

He could sense her jolt when she noticed his presence.

3

Noctis could feel her face him.

2

He turned away from the window and in her direction. He was relieved to note her red dress. She was most certainly not the bride, but definitely related.

1

They both looked each other in the eyes as the whole sky erupted with fireworks.

She was wearing a gold mask similar to his but he could still make out that she was extremely beautiful. It was odd how she had the features of a doll, but the expression of a warrior.

Her eyes were like glowing blue crystals that reflected each and every color of the fireworks which exploded all around them. He could see his own stunned face in her eyes. Then he noticed how her eyes were studying him as if she was confused.

"I apologize if I'm not supposed to be here," Noctis blurted out. How foolish of him to come up here without even knowing if he was allowed to be there or not.

The corner of her lips curled upward. "Don't worry about that. I'm guessing you're not a fan of crowds."

"But I am a fan of fireworks," he said, donning a smile.

Surprisingly, she smiled back. "You're a funny one, aren't you?"

Noctis's expression fell. Stella swirled back into his head. She'd said those exact words to him the first time they'd met.

The pinkette voice broke him out of his trance, "Something wrong?" She had one finely shaped eyebrow raised.

"It's nothing," he said as he tried to brush off all thoughts of Stella. "Besides I could ask you the same thing after you sighed like that."

The woman nodded. "You'd sigh too if your little sister who you practically raised married an oaf."

"So this is your sister's wedding?" Noctis mentally patted himself on the back for figuring out that they were in fact related.

She nodded, "My sister and her husband are fans of fireworks just like you."

"Then I'm sure he can't be all bad," he went on with her teasing.

"He's not bad. He's just an idiot," she snorted and laughing lightly to herself.

"Would you care to accompany me for a glass of champagne, Miss…uh…," Noctis realized he hadn't introduced himself yet. "How rude of me? My name is Noctis Caelum," he said extending a hand.

"Lightning. Lightning Farron," she answered back, amusement glinting in her eyes. She took his hand and shook it, sending sparks of electricity reminiscent of her name up and down Noctis's arm.

Noctis was pretty sure the fireworks had stopped by now but he could still hear them go off.

Seems like this was going to be an interesting New Year.


	2. Chocolates

_**Here's the second part to the the story :) May or may not continue but for now I hope you enjoy this much :)**_

"Why are you even looking at those, Light? It's not like you have anyone to give them to," Vanille laughed while she looked at her scowling friend.

Lightning glared back at Vanille. "If you want, you could go do the rest of the grocery shopping while I finish up here," Lightning said, making sure her words came off as more of a command than a suggestion. She handed over the list to the giggling girl.

The red head knew_ exactly _why Lightning was here and it was all her fault. Well, mostly her fault.

It was _that _time of year again. Since the day after New Year the shops were now filled various decorations in all kinds of pinks, purples, and reds which signified_ that_ holiday was near.

The day most teenage girls addressed as D-day, when in all actuality it was V-day.

Valentine's Day was a major couple's holiday, but it was better known as the day where girls gave chocolates to the boys they liked best.

And Claire Farron, better known to the world as Lightning Farron, had been staring at Make-Your-Own chocolate kits for over half an hour. It was almost as if she was sparring with the sweets. Only one thought had been running through her head.

Should she or should she not buy them?

Lightning was twenty one for god's sake. She shouldn't be partaking in this dumb holiday in the first place. But thanks to Vanille and Fang she didn't have much of a choice.

As fate would have it, Prompto (a good friend of Noctis's) knew Vanille and Fang from one of their "outings" and all of three of them had been good friends ever since.

It's entirely those three's fault that Lightning was there anyways.

Who's ever even heard of a Valentine's potluck?

It pissed Lightning off to no end that they forced her into their Valentine's version of a Secret Santa on top of that.

Lightning had decided to get whoever she was given some chocolate, because it was the first thing that came to mind. Now, she began to seriously regret her decision.

The problem was she didn't even know if the would be recipient liked chocolates.

Noctis Lucius Caelum had come off to her as a handsome yet modest man when the first met at her sister's wedding reception. However, once Lightning researched (stalked) him over the internet she soon learned his background was far from humble. His father was one of the richest men in their country and Noctis was the heir to one of the largest businesses in the world. By the looks of it, his father practically owned the city they lived in.

She learned a great deal about him from her research. The world wide web had given her everything from his height to where he went to preschool, but it didn't give her one important detail.

Did Noctis like chocolate?

Of course, Lightning could save herself the trouble and ask Noctis herself. But it had been weeks since he'd put his contact info into her phone she had hardly taken action other than friending him on a stupid social media website. There were times she felt like she should message him. There were times she almost did. But neither one of them had sent the other so much as a hello since the night they first met.

Lightning didn't want to be the first one to message, but it was getting rather irksome to have to wait for Noctis.

Then again the pinkette wasn't known for having patience.

This wasn't going anywhere. The longer she looked, the more stupid the chocolates became. The whole isle was full of things she wouldn't even buy for herself now that she thought about it. There was one last isle that Lightning hadn't checked out yet, though she was quite doubtful she'd find anything worthwhile.

Oh, how the universe loved proving her wrong.

Light was expecting to find chocolates, but instead she found something or rather someone much better.

Clad in black and standing in the middle of florescent pink isle, Noctis was yelling at someone over the phone. Lightning didn't even need to hear what he was saying to know who was on the other end of that line.

"How do you expect me to have a present ready by Valentine's Day?! I don't even know if she likes sweets. She could totally hate my gift!…No I haven't messaged her about…I don't want her to think I'm a creep!" Noctis tried to maintain his cool as he screamed at Prompto.

Lightning waited until he was speaking animatedly again before using her stealth training to sneak up on him. From behind, she placed a ridiculously blue fluffy bear with black and silver bowtie.

Noctis pulled the phone away from his ear and turned slowly on the balls of his feet until his eyes met Lightning's.

"Hey," she greeted him calmly, trying her hardest not to smile at the shock on his face.

"Hey…," he answered back breathlessly. Noctis practically slapped himself with his phone, "I'm gonna have to call you back." Prompto was clearly not done with the conversation. His voice could still be heard over the line until Noctis hit the end call button before turning his phone off.

"They're making you do the dumb Secret Santa thing too?" Lightning cut to the chase. Pleasantries were awkward. She hated being awkward.

It took a few moments for Noctis to answer, but he did. "Yeah…," he said sounding as if this was a subject he'd lost sleep over. "Who'd you get?" His blue eyes peered into hers.

If he was trying to hide his eagerness at her reply, he was failing, horribly.

"According to tradition, I'd be breaking rules if I told you," she began and saw his face began to fall. "But, let's say hypothetically I was to get you for my recipient, what would you like?"

At this the light in Noctis's eyes returned. "I would like one of these," he said as he picked up a pink fluffy teddy bear with a white and silver bowtie.

"Excellent choice," she started, "hypothetically."

"And I'm guessing you'd want this, if I had to get you a gift ," Noctis held up the blue bear. "Hypothetically, of course."

"Indeed, I would hypothetically love that." She finally flashed him a smile.

Since it was Vanille, Fang, and Prompto who were throwing the Pot Luck, it turned into a full blown party within the first thirty minutes. That meant Lightning and Noctis would go into hiding once again. The roof seemed like a good idea until the winter chill began to nip at both of them.

The two sat on the staircase which was still freezing, but at least there was no wind. They sipped the cocoa they managed to steal from Prompto's kitchen and caught up on the one month of their lives where they basically refused to contact one another. Both of them decided to make it a habit to at least try and message the other.

After the surprising wonderful dinner Prompto had prepared, paired with the not so bad dishes Fang and Vanille brought, Noctis and Lightning decided they were going home.

The others most likely didn't get a chance to exchange gifts, but Noctis ended up driving Lightning home since she'd come in Vanille and Fang's car.

"So are you ready to open you not so hypothetical gift?" Noctis placed a glittering silver gift bag onto her lap once they stopped in front of her townhouse.

"I can't believe you got me exactly what I asked for," Lighting faked surprise when she pulled out the blue bear she'd pointed out at the store.

"Are you ready to open yours?" Lightning mimicked his earlier remark, handing him a bear shaped gift wrapped up in white tissue paper and red ribbons.

"Can I rip this open? This packing is being rather disagreeable," he stated noticing the sneaky smile that graced her lips for a few seconds.

"I won't be offended." She shrugged. Sailor knots were some of the worst to untie.

He opened the wrapping and pulled out the pink bear, but along with it was a tiny bag what appeared to be handmade chocolates.

"I'm not the best chef, but I do hope you like them." Lightning stared down at the bear in her hands.

"If I die, Prompto will definitely invite you to my funeral." Noctis wore a cheeky grin.

"You're hilarious," she rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek before stepping out of the car.

It took a considerable amount of energy to not turn back to look at him and wave.

She had no idea why she did that.

She had no idea why she was clutching the blue bear to her chest like it was worth more than ten bucks.

All she knew was that this was the first Valentine's where she didn't worry about her sister's love life and was finally, hopefully, working on her own.

Lightning set the blue bear on the pillow beside hers and remembered to text Noctis.

_Goodnight sweet prince :P_

Not that far away, Noctis smiled at his phone screen as lay opposite the pink bear which stood out in his entirely ebony room.

_Goodnight my…knight?_

He sent his reply and his phone buzzed not even a minute later.

_You suck at texting, no wonder you didn't message me sooner XD_

He laughed as he munched away on chocolates at midnight.

Lightning was wrong about them.

They tasted amazing.


End file.
